It would be an interesting test to take a boxer and train him for a fight using straight boxing against a Sansou fighter using Sansou rules. The mistake that it is important to avoid is to prepare for a boxing match using boxing rules. That basically amounts to bad fight prep. Know your opponent...
Anyway, using good fight prep I think it is possible to counter a Sansou guy effectively with straight boxing. What you need to do is have the boxer work against Sansou guys to do the following:
1) Read the lines
2) Counter their attacks w/ boxing basics
3) Develop two or three basic strategies for closing to boxing range and staying out of elbow, knee range (I'd have to familiarize myself with the clinch rules in Sansou but you would have to find a way to get the referee to break up the clinch--sit down perhaps?)
If you took this seriously in the fight prep stage you stand a good chance of evening out the disadvantage that comes from having a more limited tool set. This strategy would have the most chance of succeeding if the Sansou guy didn't prep well by training against a boxer. If the guy was unwise enough to train wrong then the boxer would have a very good chance of having the fight on his strengths and his opponent weaknesses rather than vice versa.
You saw a lot of fights that fit into the ill-informed fight prep 20 years ago. I have a couple of MT vs. karate matches on video that end in bad KOs for the unsuspecting, overconfident, unprepared karate guys. But it is getting harder and harder to find because the trainers and coaches are wizening up to the game. |